Juvenile

Quick meaning: Juvenile is an adjective meaning Young; not fully developed.

Meaning

Young; not fully developed.

More Meanings

1. Characteristic of youth or immaturity; childish.
2. A prepubescent child.
3. A person younger than the age of majority; a minor.
4. (literature) A publication for young adult readers.
5. (theater) An actor playing a child's role.
6. (zoology) A sexually immature animal.
7. (criminal law) A person younger than the age of full criminal responsibility, such that the person either cannot be held criminally liable or is subject to less severe forms of punishment.

Example Sentences

[T]he juvenile justice system became firmly established as the legitimate institution for responding to juvenile delinquency and misconduct during 1900 and 1960.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a form of rheumatoid arthritis that affects children under the age of 16[…]. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis impacts the larger joints of the body and is a chronic condition.

This is illuſtrated by a variety of examples; particularly by the attachment which we naturally form to inanimate objects; and by the pleaſure derived from hiſtoric ſcenes, from painting, and from the review of juvenile days.

We should then be able to count on the labours of fifty thousand juvenile home missionaries, and the next generation would be able to speak from a happier experience than we, of "times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord."—From the Canada Sunday School Record.

Word Forms

• juveniles

Synonyms for juvenile

Depending on context, synonyms include infantile, juvey, puerile, babish, babyish, bairnish.

Antonyms for juvenile

Common opposites include adult, mature, nonjuvenile, old, senile, grownup.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include adolescent, puerile, jejune, immature, underaged, child.

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